1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to traffic barrier and particularly to a traffic barrier which is light in weight for ease of moving prior to use, and to which a stabilizing ballast material may be readily added after the barrier is place for use in a desired location. The ballast material stabilizes the barrier, which would otherwise be easily tipped over by gusts of wind, such as are created by passing trucks and automobiles. Further, the barrier uses a ballast material which in most cases may be readily disposed of without adverse environmental effects at the location where the barrier has been used.
2. Prior Art
Barriers having high visibility panels, which are intended to be easily seen, are customarily positioned at a construction site, adjacent the traveled portion of a roadway, to separate the traffic from the construction site. The placement of barriers at a construction site can add considerable labor costs to the overall cost of the construction. The road barrier typically found in use today consists of one, or a pair, of rectangular vertically disposed panels supported by two pairs of legs, one pair at each end of the panel or panels. One leg of each pair is connected at its top end to one leg of the other pair, with the legs extending to the ground at an angle to each other. Generally such barriers have the general appearance of a typical saw horse. Due to the generally relative light weight construction of these barriers, which are typically formed of steel, aluminum, or plastic, it is necessary to add weight or ballast to them to prevent them from being easily tipped over. Typically a horizontal member or crossbar extends between the legs of each pair of legs close to the ground and a weight in the form of ballast material, such as a partially filled sandbag, is draped over the crossbar. Considerable labor is involved in placing such barriers at a construction site. Typically the barrier is unloaded from a truck and placed in a desired location. Thereafter, it is necessary to manually place the sandbags, which have already been partially filled with sand, over the crossbars. Since the barrier can be subjected to gusts of wind from both directions, it is normally desirable to place a partially filled sandbag over each of the crossbars. It can thus be seen that considerable labor is necessary to set up the barriers, both at the construction site and in preparing the sandbags for use. Further, when the construction project is completed and it is necessary to remove the barrier, again the sandbags must be removed from the crossbars and, in most cases, both the barrier and the sandbags must be loaded on a truck for removal from the construction site. If the ballast bag is filled with a material which is compatible with disposable on the construction site, the bags may be emptied alongside the road, such that only the bags themselves need be removed from the construction site.
Attempts have been made in the past to reduce the cost of erecting barriers at a construction site. For instance, a traffic barricade is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,232, issued Nov. 4, 1975, to Henry Lidner, which discloses a traffic barricade formed of molded parts with a open top box extending between each pair of legs. It is suggested in the Lindner patent that weighted material of various kinds can be disposed within the box to anchor the barricade. A plurality of drain holes are provided in the boxes for drainage of collected water resulting from rain or splashing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,980, issued Aug. 8, 1978, to John Toomey, discloses a collapsible road barrier provided with a universally collapsible bunk of generally rectangular shape with each of the four corners of the bunk being attached to one of the supporting legs of the barrier. After the barrier is positioned in the desired location, it is intended that a material be positioned on the collapsible bunk to add stability to the road barrier.
While the road barriers described in each of the above-mentioned patents eliminate the need for filling and positioning sandbags on the crossbars of a barrier, they still require that a ballast material, such as sand or gravel, be provided for use at the construction site, to be placed in the boxes of the Lindner patent, or on the collapsible bunk of the Toomey patent.
It is a object of the present invention to provide a collapsible traffic barrier of light weight construction, which is readily movable to a construction site, and which includes a container in which may be placed liquid to serve as a ballast to stabilize the barrier.
It is another object of this invention to provide a light weight, readily movable traffic barrier, including a container for receiving a liquid such as water for ballasting, which container includes a pair of closable openings, one for readily adding fluid to the container, and the other for readily removing fluid from the container.